14 Feb 2018
Welcome back! I hope you have really enjoyed the longest summer break we have had for many years. I believe it was a 42 day holiday!
There is so much we are proud of from 2017 and so much to look forward to in the coming year.
Our significant achievements for 2017:
- We had the Premier's Implementation Unit visit to learn what we are doing to achieve such amazing results with our literacy and numeracy programs.
- The Head of the Centre for Educational Statistics & Evaluation also spent a day interviewing our staff due to the terrific feedback you gave for how well we deal with student wellbeing – specifically Advocacy. We will be published as a best practice school in this area across the state and formally recognised for this outstanding achievement. Well done to our staff!
- The Director of Education Bankstown, Jan Green, has recognised our school as the highest value added school in the Bankstown network of schools. This means that we have grown our students' learning more than any other school in the area from Year 9-12. Parents and carers can be confident that their child is receiving the very best in education in the region.
- We were published in the Sydney Morning herald as a high achieving school in the Sydney Metro area. You can find the article here: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/hsc-results-reveal-the-state-high-schools-punching-above-their-weight-in-a-lopsided-system-20171218-h06em4.html
- A few days later, we lead the Education section with the article,‘How Sir Joseph Banks High School turned its fortunes around'
To summarise, 2017 saw us as leaders in teaching and learning best practice, amongst the top schools in the state for wellbeing and acknowledged for the outstanding programs that develop partnerships with our students in learning. That's a lot to be proud of!
This year we are working towards continued and ongoing improvement. We are developing the 2018-2020 Strategic Directions and school plan in consultation with students, parents and staff to ensure that we remain the leading school in the Bankstown area. Our numbers are continuing to grow, which is a measure of our popularity amongst savvy community members. We aspire to being the preferred school of choice in the Revesby and Padstow areas.
How are we going to remain the leading school?
- Continue to lead our students in quality learning partnerships that place student interests and their learning at the centre of teaching practice.
- Utilise teaching strategies that are well established and proven as high leverage to student growth. This includes:
- A Growth Mindset
- Visible Learning strategies
- Learning partnerships
- Teacher/student collaboratively developed teaching and learning programs
- Project Based Learning
- A cohesive Year 7-12 Literacy and Numeracy Strategy to ensure HSC standards are not only met, but surpassed.
- Implement our Positive Behaviour for (4) Learning approach to ensure that we are teaching our students the values and behaviours that we want to see.
- Supplementing this with a positive psychology, positive approach to developing relationships to promote wellbeing and happiness.
- Establishing a Learning Community with Revesby, Padstow Park, Padstow North and Punchbowl Public Schools to ensure we are catering to all students' needs and sharing best teaching practice with our primary colleagues.
It will be a big year. We hope that you are as excited as we are about the directions we are taking as we work together to ensure that every student attains personal excellence through innovation and the provision of world class opportunities to ensure individual success.
Murray Kitteringham
Principal